Former President Trump left a Manhattan federal courtroom where his sexual abuse defamation trial was underway shortly after the lawyer for author E. Jean Carroll began delivering closing statements.
It's unclear why Trump left the courtroom, but it came shortly after Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said the former president was “trying to normalize abnormal behavior.”
After Trump left, Judge Lewis Kaplan told the defense and his adviser Boris Epshteyn to remain seated, CNN and ABC News reported.
“The record will reflect that Mr. Trump got up and came out of the courtroom,” said Mr. Kaplan, who is not related to Mr. Carroll's attorney.
This is not the first time that Trump has abruptly left the court. During the civil fraud trial that concluded earlier this month, Trump's former fixer and personal lawyer Michael Cohen contradicted his claims on the witness stand and the judge denied closing the case in Trump's favor. He left the courtroom holding his breath.
Carroll is suing Trump for defamation over his 2019 denials that he sexually abused her decades ago. The former Elle columnist won a verdict last year that found Trump responsible for sexual abuse and awarded him $5 million.
She is currently seeking approximately $10 million in damages for President Trump's denials. Since Kaplan has already found Trump liable in the defamation suit, the jury now only needs to decide how much Trump should pay Carroll.
Early Friday morning, Kaplan admonished Trump attorney Alina Haba for continuing to talk even though she told him it was over.
“You have to spend some more time in captivity. Now sit down,” the judge told Haba.
The Carroll trial is scheduled to conclude on Friday, after which the jury will begin deliberations.
The Associated Press contributed.
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